We\u2019re not even a year removed from Brendan Shanahan\u2019s removal being celebrated as supposedly eliminating some red tape between the GM and the board, and now we\u2019re clamouring for a President and a GM, given how the Leafs<\/a>\u2018 season has gone.\u00a0<\/p>\n Not to harp on someone who has already lost his job, but Treliving was unsuccessful this season due to his incompetence. He didn\u2019t need a President above him to have success this season; he simply needed to do a better job. There\u2019s a world where they simply hire a better GM, and it more than suffices.\u00a0<\/p>\n You can also argue that there should be consideration for at least hiring someone to serve as a buffer between Pelley and the GM. Pelley went to great lengths to say he doesn\u2019t want to be involved and won\u2019t be moving forward, but the man doth protest too much, methinks.<\/p>\n As names have begun to emerge, it has been interesting to hear all the chatter about them hiring person X as President and person Y as GM, potentially with person Z as the new coach, too. Elliotte Friedman essentially squashed that notion over the weekend when he reported that the Leafs<\/a> are looking to hire one person. This\u00a0is the only thing they really can or should do, to be honest. Running an interview process to hire two people and create some sort of arranged marriage is not a recipe for success.\u00a0<\/p>\n Whoever the Leafs<\/a> hire will presumably bring on their own team and resources. That could mean a President hires a GM, or a GM overhauls their assistant GM group. If anything, part of the evaluation should chart out how each candidate plans to fill out the rest of the management team. Beyond that, MLSE hiring multiple hockey executives \u2014 let alone a coach \u2014 and forcing them to work together doesn\u2019t make any sense.\u00a0<\/p>\n Therefore, the first step, regardless of whether it\u2019s a President or GM, is to hire someone to lead the charge. This process got off to an inauspicious start when the Leafs<\/a> hired Neil Glasberg and PBI Sports, a firm that handled the same process for the Canucks, Ducks and Flyers, none of which I\u2019d consider model franchises in the league.\u00a0<\/p>\n More perplexing, though, is that Glasberg represents team executives and head coaches while under contract to help a team find an executive\u2026 who might also be hiring a head coach soon. It is not humanly possible to avoid some level of conflict of interest in this scenario. It raised enough alarm bells that the Leafs released a statement about it, too:<\/p>\n Leafs release a statement about the hiring of their search firm. This has to be a first. pic.twitter.com\/MdwKVMVqXP<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 David Alter (@davidalter) April 9, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n This story from Frank Seravalli has recirculated following the Leafs\u2019 hiring of Glasberg<\/a>, and one part, in particular, stands out. <\/p>\n When asked why he felt it was proper to consult on a search where clients or close connections of clients may be candidates, Glasberg bristled:<\/p>\n \u201cYou have no [bleeping] clue,\u201d Glasberg said. \u201cYou\u2019re making something out of nothing. You should quit while you\u2019re ahead. Learn how to read between the lines.\u201d<\/p>\n I\u2019ll assume these are accurate quotes, knowing the story has been up for three years and Glasberg hasn\u2019t challenged it. Regardless of what one may think of Seravalli\u2019s work, it\u2019s a fair question and a ridiculous answer full of red flags. It\u2019s certainly not the answer of someone I\u2019d want to do business with in any capacity. The fact that this group was hired for this search is, in and of itself, eyebrow-raising, if we\u2019re honest.\u00a0<\/p>\n Taking stock of the full picture now, we have the President of MLSE \u2014 who has a European Golf Tour background \u2014 and Glasberg \u2014 who also has no real hockey background beyond seemingly representing some individuals off-ice, in a clear conflict of interest \u2014 heading the search. It\u2019s possible the organization hires a strong executive who takes it from there; that\u2019s not out of the question, given that this job will naturally attract a lot of top talent. But it\u2019s not exactly off to a great start, other than the fact that they\u2019re seemingly aware they should only hire one person (for now), and from there, said individual will have a lot of work ahead to build out the management group.\u00a0<\/p>\n In the meantime, hopefully, the Leafs can finish the tank in their final two games of the season.<\/p>\n Notes \u2013 It\u2019s understandably not receiving much attention, but in the AHL, Dennis Hildeby isn\u2019t exactly lighting it up. He\u2019s played 22 games and has a 9-8-5 record, giving up 2.7 goals against per game with a .896 save percentage. All of those marks would be a career-worst for him in the AHL, and in fact, this will mark the third straight season where his AHL numbers have dipped since his strong rookie showing in the league. Hildeby did play 19 games in the NHL this season, and his play was strong; his .912 mark with the Leafs is actually the only save percentage on the team over .900 right now (!). But what to make of his mediocre play since returning to the Marlies<\/a> for the second half of the season will be one to sort through.\u00a0<\/p>\n Starting next season, Hildeby can\u2019t be sent down without waivers, and they definitely shouldn\u2019t lose him for free, but he isn\u2019t exactly making a great case that he\u2019s fully ready. It\u2019s hard to bank on 19 NHL games when he otherwise hasn\u2019t been particularly good over the past two seasons.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2013 It\u2019s not like anyone has been good in net this season, though. Joseph Woll had one of his worst games of the season against Florida over the weekend, and his save percentage dipped to .899 as a result. He played 42 games last season, a career high, and he should receive one more start to finish with 40 this season. He mainly missed time due to an off-ice issue to start the season rather than an injury. He\u2019s shown he can give the team that workload at this point, but it would be foolish to bank on anything more than 50 per cent of the games.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2013 For whatever it\u2019s worth, Morgan Rielly\u2019s 11 goals are the second-highest total mark of his career. It\u2019s just inside the top 25 among all defensemen. It does feel like it\u2019s time to move on, but they shouldn\u2019t have to sweeten the pot to move him. At worst, it should be a Seth Jones-like situation where Florida did eat some salary but also received a first-round pick and Spencer Knight. The return will be nowhere near as good, but it should be one that only improves if the Leafs retain.<\/p>\n \u2013 Oliver Ekman-Larsson has three more points than Rielly this season, so unless he passes him in the final two games of the season, it\u2019ll be the first time that a defenseman other than Rielly led the Leafs\u2019 defense in scoring since 2019-20, when Rielly played only 47 games due to injury, paving the way for Tyson Barrie to outscore him.<\/p>\n \u2013 Since the start of February, Nick Robertson has just five points in 24 games. He produced 26 in 52 before that. Needless to say, Robertson is ending the season with a real whimper and will once again be an RFA, only this time, he has arbitration rights. Down the stretch, he hasn\u2019t made a real case to stay with the team moving forward, and he has now played 232 games in the league and turns 25 this year.<\/p>\n Quotes \u201cMy experience going around the city is just how supportive people are, no matter the circumstance. Whether it\u2019s over the last couple weeks or after last year, after Game 7, the support was there \u2026 the passion for this team is unwavering.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 John Tavares on the Leafs\u2019 fan support<\/p>\n I wasn\u2019t sure what Scotiabank Arena would be like down the stretch as the Leafs rack up losses, but it has been relatively calm. Fans have seemingly accepted the season for what it is and are generally hoping they can successfully tank.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThere are far more challenges in either a large market or a Canadian market. There just are. You have to be aware of how that gets into your room.<\/p>\n I\u2019ll give you an example. In my short time here, I would never change the lines in practice, especially if we had two or three days off. If I changed the lines, I had 30 cameras in that guy\u2019s stall, for the guy who went from the second to third line. It might just be that you wanted to switch something, but that becomes a story you build. So I always did it in the game. If I did it in-game, it was, \u201cOh, I just wanted to give the other guy a chance,\u201d and you try to keep the cameras out.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 Paul Maurice on playing\/coaching in a Canadian market like Toronto<\/p>\n I thought this was an interesting anecdote from Paul Maurice about navigating the Toronto market. You can\u2019t let it dictate how you conduct your business, but there is an element of handling it and managing through it.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cSerious enough. It can, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 Craig Berube on whether Anthony Stolarz\u2019s injury could impact his offseason<\/p>\n It\u2019s a shame at this point when it comes to Anthony Stolarz. He\u2019s extremely talented and by far the Leafs\u2019 best goaltender at playing the puck, but he simply cannot stay healthy. Starting the offseason with a potentially notable injury is not a good way to rebound for next season, either.<\/p>\n Tweets of the Week PLAYOFF BOUND! \ud83d\udc4a pic.twitter.com\/JsT0ZxSlhP<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Toronto Marlies (@TorontoMarlies) April 8, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n It will be very interesting to monitor who the Marlies<\/a> end up dressing for the playoffs. Right now, the roster is a bit all over the place, with the Leafs adding a bunch of their players while the Marlies<\/a> also integrate college and junior players.<\/p>\n If TO gets a top 5 pick this season their next two picks go to PHI and BOS, respectively, with essentially no trade protection.<\/p>\n There is verbiage that TO can pick who gets next year’s pick \u2013 a bizarre clause \u2013 but some w\/ PHI have disputed that. https:\/\/t.co\/J9FXaRKL3s<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Anthony Di Marco (@ADiMarco25) April 12, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Well, that would be an interesting twist to monitor if things went this direction.<\/p>\n Good season boys pic.twitter.com\/2wJeAjERUE<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Sam McKee (@SamAMcKee) April 9, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n It\u2019s incredible that the Leafs entered this season with pretty much the entire hockey world viewing them as a playoff team, and it turned out like this. The Chris Tanev injury has been significant, and Auston Matthews has missed a quarter of the season, but there\u2019s no excuse to be this bad. With just baseline competence, they would likely be in the mix, which shouldn\u2019t be something beyond their reach for next season.<\/p>\n Five Things I Think I\u2019d Do 1.\u00a0 If the Leafs are calling up Marlies<\/a> players, I think it goes without saying that they should play games. The Marlies<\/a> are gearing up for the playoffs, and they actually still have a shot at a first-round bye. While they\u2019re fighting for one, the Leafs are calling up the Marlies\u2019 best players and healthy-scratching them. We\u2019ve talked a lot about the organization\u2019s blatant dysfunction this season, and everyone understands the situation is in flux right now, but at some point, they need to stop the bleeding and the unforced errors. They should call up some kids and evaluate them. There is no issue there. And if they want to keep certain players down to help the Marlies make a push, this is also understandable. What doesn\u2019t make any sense: calling up Ryan Tverberg so he can watch from up top as Calle Jarnkrok plays his 55th game, or bringing up\u00a0William Villeneuve to watch Philippe Myers play his 39th.<\/p>\n 2.\u00a0 I think the Leafs have an interesting decision ahead of them with Easton Cowan and whether he plays for the Toronto Marlies in the playoffs, or if he has any hope of playing for Team Canada in the Worlds (it is no sure thing that he\u2019ll be asked). That said, I think I\u2019d prefer he plays for the Marlies in the AHL playoffs. <\/p>\n While the Worlds is a great experience where he\u2019d play with and against talented players across the league, it is still a European-style tournament, and even going the distance and winning it doesn\u2019t really prepare him for anything on this side of the Atlantic Ocean. Grinding through a much more physical AHL playoff run alongside potential teammates next season strikes me as more beneficial for his development.<\/p>\n On the Marlies, the Leafs are also in complete control of the situation, rather than Cowan heading across the ocean, where anything could happen, including barely playing. He\u2019s put together a great end to his season; let\u2019s see if he can carry it through some meaningful AHL playoff games and potentially spearhead a postseason run. It would be great for him and the organization.<\/p>\n 3.\u00a0 \u00a0I didn\u2019t think it was possible for the Leafs to drop this far in the standings, and whether or not it was done on purpose, this is hopefully for the best, provided they can actually keep their draft pick. There are still two games remaining, and neither opponent has anything to play for and will be resting players, so it\u2019s quite possible that they pick up some points and move up the standings. If they remain in fifth, it means they have a 44 percent chance of moving down to sixth in the lottery, a 24.5 percent chance of remaining at fifth, and an 8.5 percent chance of drafting first overall. It\u2019s not a warm and fuzzy feeling either way, obviously, but it\u2019s worth a shot at this rate, given how the season has gone.<\/p>\n 4.\u00a0 On a related note, I would be inclined to sit out a few veteran players to finish the season. Jake McCabe is averaging a career-high 22:27 and is at -11 in his past six games; he looks completely out of gas. Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Matthew Knies are clearly labouring out there. I\u2019d sit them all. I\u2019m sure some will ask, \u201cWhy stop there?\u201d but I don\u2019t think it\u2019s so easy to look at a player like John Tavares, who is completely healthy, and tell him he\u2019s sitting.<\/p>\n 5.\u00a0 Last but not least, I wanted to take a second to thank all of our readers who stopped by this space this season. It hasn\u2019t been a fun year to follow the team, but the fan support is always second to none, and we greatly appreciate it. <\/p>\n Photo: Dan Hamilton-USA Today Sports\/Imagn Images <\/p>\n
Photo: Dan Hamilton-USA Today Sports\/Imagn Images <\/p>\n
Photo: Christian Bonin\/TSGPhoto.com <\/p>\n
Photo: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports <\/p>\n